Optimizing Amazon: Content that Converts

We see it all on Amazon, bare bones listings that give no product details and listings with novel-length titles and bullet points, so overwhelming you don’t know where to start reading. The detail page content has a huge impact on your product discoverability and conversion so getting it right is vital. Finding the right balance between sharing relevant information and keyword stuffing can be tricky. Now that you’ve gotten rid of duplicate product pages, here’s how we recommend handling each section of text in your listings.

Title

Check category guidelines for length – Each category has different maximum lengths. Even though you may find listing titles that clearly exceed the category limit, don’t try to do the same. Those listings risk being suppressed.

Keep the visual in mind – Customers are going to skim the title. Make sure that the title format allows them to digest the important information quickly. You always want to include brand, product name, type of product and relevant size or color information. Break up the information with dashes and spaces to make it easy-to-read.

Include important keywords – Determine which terms are the most relevant and most likely searched and try to include them. Do not go overboard. There are other places in the listing to add search terms.

Highlight the important features – Most customers don’t venture down the listing page so the bullets may be your only chance to convert the shopper. Use the bullets to describe the most important aspects of the product and features that differentiate it from its competitors. Include information that answers commonly asked questions.

Place relevant keywords – Anticipate the common search terms that your customers are using and try to place them in the bullets.

USE FORMATTING STRATEGICALLY – When you want to include a lot of text in your bullet points, consider using a format like in this bullet point. By putting the main idea of the bullet in caps and elaborating in lowercase, you allow the shopper to skim the bullets and still gain a basic understanding of the product.

Description

Give in-depth detail – The description is where you can give an even fuller picture of your product and its benefits. The description often contains similar information to the bullet points, and that’s okay. It’s helpful to have the keywords in the description for increased discoverability. This is also a great place to highlight additional uses, care instructions, and product warnings. The description character limit is 2500.

Tell your story – Knowing your brand story and company history can help promote customer loyalty. Was the product created in response to a common problem? Has the company been around for decades? Craft your narrative in a compelling way and it will resonate with consumers.

Take it to the next level – Though you will find many descriptions with custom HTML, it’s not technically allowed. Brands use HTML to enhance the appearance of the description and make it easier to read. Brands that have access can greatly benefit from Enhanced Brand Content (EBC) or an A+ Detail Page. Both of these provide text formatting and image options for superior product descriptions. While an A+ Detail Page comes at a cost and required a Vendor Central code, EBC is free with brand registry.

Search Terms

Stay relevant – Use descriptive terms like “organic” and “natural” but only if they apply to your product. Don’t try to pull in customers with deceiving terms that don’t apply. Those customers won’t convert anyway!

Don’t mention your competitors – Including other brands in your search terms is against the Amazon Terms of Service. Doing so puts your listings at risk of being suppressed.

No need to repeat – Unlike in a keyword cost-per-click campaign, you don’t need to include every possible phrase like “baby diaper” and “diaper for baby.” You can include “diaper” and “baby” and Amazon’s A9 algorithm intuits the different combinations.